Plate-holder for printing-presses.



PATENTED JAN. 16, 1906.

H. A. MALEY. PLATE HOLDER FOR PRINTING PRESSBS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV.11. 1903.

Fl- INVENTUR.

I 1%. v 7 42C);

UNITED STATES PATENT orrron.

PLATE-HOLDER FOR PRlNTlNG-PRESSES.

Specification of Letters Patent...

Patented Jan. 16, 1906.

Application filed November 11, 1903- Serial No. 180,664.

To all whom it nuty concern Be it known that I, HENRY A. MALEY, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Plate-Holders for Printing-Presses, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to holders for electrotypes or other printing-plates while the same are in use in a printing-press and is an improvement on the invention shown in Letters Patent of the United States No. 724,116, dated March 31, 1903.

The invention has for its object to enable the eccentric disks shown in said patent to be accurately adjusted to produce any predeteirmined edgewise adjustment of the printingate.

p The invention consists in the improve- 'ments which I will now proceed to describe and claim.

Of the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 represents a plan view of a part of the block portion of my improved holder with a plurality of clamping members engaged therewith, the whole constituting an embodiment of my invention. Fig. 2 represents a section on line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 represents a plan view of one of the eccentric clamping members. Fig. 1 represents a section on line 4 4. of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 represents a plan view of one of the slotted shoes. Fig. 6 represents a section on line 6 6 of Fig. 5. Fig. 7 represents an enlargement of a portion of Fig. 2, showing the screw partially disengaged from the block.

The same reference characters indicate the same parts in all the figures.

In the drawings, 0. represents a block adapted to support one or more electrotype or other printing plates 1). The block a is formed to rest upon the bed of the press. In the block a are formed a large number of screw-threaded orifices c, the same'being arranged in diagonally-extending rows, as

shown 1n Fig. 1, the holes of each row being arranged close together.

d (1 represent clamping-disks, each of which is provided with an eccentrically-arranged orifice (1, adapted to receive a screw 6, the screw being formed to engage the thread of either of the orifices c. The under side of each clamping-disk bears upon a seat formed by the upper side of a shoef, which bears on the block a. Said shoe has a flange f 2 at its inner edge, one side of the flange forming a straight shoulder. shoe is thickened by said flange and is beveled to bear against the beveled edge of the printing-plate b. The shoe also has a slot f to receive the shank of the screw 6, said slot extending at right angles to the shoulder. A slight rotation of the disk (1 on the screw 6 moves the perimeter of the disk toward or from the margin of the printing-plate. When the screw is loosened, such movement of the clamp is readily permitted, and when the screw is tightened the disk clamps the shoe against the block and firmly holds it in any position to which it may have been adjusted.

When a printing-plate b is to be attached to the block a, the mode of procedure is as follows: The plate is first located and then a suitable number of the clamping devices above described are applied to the block a in position required to engage them with the beveled margins of the printing-plate. The disposition of the threaded orifices c in diagonal rows, the holes of each row being close together, together with the adjustability afforded by the clamping-disks d, rotatable upon the screws 6, enables all the edges of the plate to be securely held, whatever may be the location of the plate upon the block a.

The construction and operation above described are substantially the same as set forth in the above-mentioned patent.

In carrying out my present invention I provide the upper'surface of the flange f with an indicating member t, which is preferably a groove formed in the surface of the flange midway of its length and extending at right angles with the shoulder. I also provide the upper surface of the disk d with a plurality of indicating members '21, which are preferably grooves radiating from the center of the screw 6 and extending to the periphery of the disk. The members i are so spaced that when the disk is rotated a distance equal to the space between one member "i and the next the shoe will be given a predetermined edgewise movement. The printing-plate 1), bearing against the said shoe, will therefore be given a corresponding movement, it being understood that such of the other shoes as would obstruct said movement of the plate are for the time being loosened. It will be seen, therefore, that when one of the members t coincides with the member i the operator by turning the disk until the next memher 'i coincides with the member 1', or a distance equal to the space between two adja- The inner edge of the cent members i, will move the shoe and plate edgewise a predetermined distance, while by turning the disk a distance equal to twice the space between two adjacent members i the operator Will cause the shoe and plate to move twice as far as before. The indicating members may be formed and arranged in any suitable manner to enable the operator to determine how far the disk should be turned to effect a given adjustment.

It will be observed that the inner surface of the flange f against which the edge of the disk d bears, is curved, the curvature of said inner face of the flange being on an arc of a circle of a longer radius than that of the circular but eccentrically-mounted disk. The object of this construction is to provide against lateral slipping of the disk if the latter should not be held quite securely enough by its screw. It will be readily understood that if the disk is turned so that its edge at the longest or shortest radius thereof bears against the face of the flange f the point of engagement of the disk with the flange will be in a direct line between the pivot of the disk and the center of the flange; but as soon as the disk is turned in either direction from such point of adjustment the point of engagement with the flange is shifted to one side of such a direct line. Bycurving the face of the flange f the exact point of said face against which the disk bears will stand more nearly at a right angle to the direction of pressure than if the inner surface of the flangef were straight.

The screw e is provided at its inner end with a smooth or unthreaded extension e, the diameter of which is such that its periphery touches the apexes of the convolutions of the thread in the hole a. The object of the extension 6 is to enable the screw to be engaged with the thread of the corresponding orifice without crossing of the threads. When the screw is-being inserted in the hole, the corresponding hole is covered by the shoe and disk, so that the operator cannot see it. The extension e enables the operator to accurately insert the screw and engage it with the thread of the hole without any liability of crossing or mutilation of the threads.

I claim- 1. A clamp for a printing-press plateholder, the same comprising a slotted flanged shoe formed to bear on a plate-holding bed, a disk formed to bear on the flange of said shoe and having an eccentric orifice, and a ivotscrew formed to pass through the ori ce in the disk and the slotted shoe, the face of the flange of the shoe against which the disk bears being curved, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. A clamp for a printing-press plateholder, the same comprising a slotted shoe formed to bear on a plate-holding bed, said plurality of radial indicating members 00- operating with the indicator on said flange, whereby various predetermined movements of the plate may besecured by a predetermined rotary movement of said disk.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HENRY A. MALEY. Witnesses C. F. BROWN, E. BATOHELDER. 

